The untitled 'Walking Dead' spinoff gets two seasons on AMC

AMC is going to get even more zombified this summer when it premieres the as-yet-untitled spinoff to its massive hit series "The Walking Dead." And much like "Better Call Saul," the channel is betting you're going to love it by ordering two seasons in advance.

The short, six-episode first season is expected to launch in late summer. The second season will follow in 2016. AMC seems to be following the playbook that made "The Walking Dead" such a massive hit, since it also began with a short six-episode first season back in 2010.

Last year, AMC also ordered two seasons of its "Breaking Bad" spinoff "Better Call Saul" ahead of the show's premiere. The first episode set a record as the highest-rated scripted series premiere in basic cable history. "The Walking Dead" spinoff could debut even larger, thanks to continued massive ratings for the original series.

The spinoff will be set in Los Angeles and follow a different set of characters. The spinoff series has cast Cliff Curtis and Kim Dickens in the lead roles.

Dave Erickson, who previously worked on "Sons of Anarchy" and "Marco Polo," will serve as show runner for the new series. Robert Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, Greg Nicotero and David Alpert, all executive producers for "The Walking Dead," will also executive produce the new series.

AMC President Charlie Collier dropped a hint about the focus of the new series in a statement, "We’ve been asked questions about what was going on in other parts of the zombie apocalypse, and what it looked like as the world really did 'turn.' Through this new series, we're going to find out."

It's been rumored that the new series would take place in the early days of the zombie outbreak that has decimated the world in "The Walking Dead."